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About the Manual

The Nerd Manual is meant to be both a useful resource for nerds and a guide for the people involved with nerds. If you're a nerd you can find information here that will help you improve your life and perhaps better understand yourself. If you're close friends with, dating, or married to a nerd, I want to give you insight into things nerds do that a lot of people have difficulty understanding.

I hope to avoid offending anyone--either nerd or non-nerd--but please understand that the manual will get into some sensitive topics, stray into contentious territories, and even use stereotypes to illustrate points. It's OK to disagree with something, but keep your comments civil.

2015-12-10

With The Force Awakens coming out soon, you'll hear this phrase a lot, but it's been a major part of nerd culture, and a significant piece of popular culture for nearly forty years now.

Most people realize the origin of "may the Force be with you," even if they haven't seen the Star Wars movies--it's as common as Yoda, Darth Vader and light sabers--but it's worth talking about why this nerdism is such a big deal to nerds, why it resonates across popular culture in general, and why you still don't typically hear a non-nerd saying it.

2015-11-10

One warning before I go any further: there are a lot of nerds who don't like Star Trek (and they probably enjoy Star Wars), which is fine, but never assume that all nerds are Star Trek fans.

It may seem self evident why nerds like Star Trek: there's faster-than-light travel, transporters that instantly teleport people from starship to planet, phasers, photon torpedoes, Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans and a host of other aliens working with or against humanity as we strike out across the galaxy.

Sure, all those things are certainly nerd candy, but there's more to the deep passion nerds hold for Star Trek than the sci-fi trappings of a low budget space western.

2015-10-28

This
is a fairly recent term that's gained common use...among nerds and
geeks, but it's slowly creeping into the vernacular of non-nerds.

Not long ago you would have heard metahuman, and before that
superhuman. Each word has a very similar connotation, although the
specifics vary slightly.

All three words are typically used in
reference to comic book or movie superheroes, like The Flash,
Elasta-Girl, Spiderman, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer who have powers
or abilities, however transhuman encompasses any human who has, through
evolution or augmentation, acquired capabilities beyond normal
humans. This could be mythological heroes like Fionn mac Cumhaill,
fictional future humans like Beatrice Prior, or even real-life people
who change so much that they can no longer be regarded as merely
human. (Superman
and Doctor Who don't qualify because they're not human.)

The word transhuman has become more popular recently because of
technological advances that bring us closer to the possibility of
extending our lifespan and expanding our physical abilities through
cybernetics, genetics, nanotech and a host of other technologies that make a lot of super powers seem like a feasible concept.

2015-10-18

Here's an astute question. Why are nerds in movies and on TV always carrying around inhalers?

I never paid attention to this trope, even though I consider myself a nerd but never had an inhaler, and few of the nerds I've known in life had inhalers either. Based on my personal experience the inhaler=nerd stereotype isn't true, but it still strikes me as believable. Here's why:

2015-10-01

This all-purpose euphemism hails from the Sci-Fi Channel's reboot of Glen Larson's Battlestar Galactica. Sci-Fi replaced the original show's 1970's disco-tastic trappings with alcoholism, violence, sex, and a multitude of identity crises.

Don't confuse frak with frack. The latter has become a common diminutive reference to hydraulic fracturing, but Battlestar's frak (without the "c") predates the common use of frack by a few years.

Frak is like the Swiss army knife of euphemisms. It can be used as a verb, noun, adjective, or interjection and replaces the equally versatile yet less welcome “f-word” that teachers don't want you to use in class.

2015-09-24

I'm a very outgoing woman but I'm attracted to a shy, awkward nerd: how do I get him to go out with me...and maybe take things further?

You may have noticed this already: the majority of nerds are, as you put it, shy and awkward. A lot of nerds don't realize they're attractive, or they're simply insecure, which means they misinterpret signals that other people easily pick up, so they don't typically make the first move.

2015-09-02

Meatspace -- Refers to real-life,
as opposed to the virtual world including social networks, gaming, chat and streaming video.

Meatspace
is a fun word that plays on the growing irony of how we have to define our realities.
The term originates in science fiction (particularly cyberpunk) as the antonym of cyberspace. We don't use the word cyberspace much anymore, but nerds still like to toy with accepted convention by bending terminology to our whims. Until this century, virtual reality was a science fiction concept, and the most advanced examples of it were clunky toys that no one took
seriously. 20th century humans didn't have to preface a meeting with non-virtual, but 21st century people spend a significant amount of time immersed in
some sort of digital facsimile of life.

This nerdism hasn't broken into the mainstream yet, but it's more and more applicable every year as
people regularly use online services for making friends, chatting, gaming,
dating and nearly any other interaction that used to happen only when two people were within touching distance of each other. We're already at a point where it is sometimes
necessary to clarify if something happened online or in meatspace,
and it's likely we'll soon have to specify that our friends join us
at the Starbucks in meatspace, rather than using their smartphone or Oculus Rift.

2015-08-14

Games have been around as long as people, possibly longer, since even animals play, and everyone is familiar with how much fun (and how frustrating) games can be, but nerds often become heavily involved in games that other people may not have even heard of. Sometimes this involvement can seem obsessive, but there’s a deeply rewarding aspect of gaming that encourages this level of involvement, and games provide a safe context for social interaction that can grow beyond the playing surface.

All games have certain characteristics that make them appealing, even if they might look odd at first glance. If you're willing to give them a chance, you might find that you enjoy the same things your nerd friend does. There is a solid sense of achievement when you beat a game's level, or manage to overcome the obstacles and win, something that is less tangible in real life. Story is a large part of many of the games nerds prefer—although the plot might be thin in some of the tabletop games or paintball—and it's the sense of progression from one plot point to the next (again, often difficult to find in real life) that adds to the sense of achievement. Games that involve multiple players offer an opportunity to socialize around a common interest, and compete without fear of long term fallout. Of course, plain old fun is a huge part of the attraction.

2015-07-23

It can be a little creepy to find yourself surrounded by a table full of nerds clacking their cutlery and chanting “one of us” but this eerie ritual is usually intended as a sign of acceptance, a way for the group to embrace a new member.

While it’s entirely benign, when done properly the chant should raise goosebumps, for good reason. It originates from the bizarre 1932 horror film Freaks, a movie that illustrates the gaping chasm separating the beautiful people from the weirdos. Which explains why nerds have co-opted the mantra.

The film stars a cadre of real life side-show performers who portray an ersatz family of circus freaks. When the beautiful trapeze artist Cleo marries one of the circus midgets, the rest of the freaks welcome her into their midst during an unforgettable wedding banquet scene. The freaks begin tapping their knives and forks on the table and chanting

One of us, one of us.

Unfortunately, Cleo doesn’t want to be a freak and throws a glass of champagne at them.

(It’s probably best if you don’t follow her example.)

If you want to impress your companions, chant along:

One of us, one of us.Gooble gobble, Gooble gobble.We accept her, we accept her.One of us, one of us.

The chant has shown up repeatedly in popular culture, finding its way into The Simpsons, South Park, Orange is the New Black and even The Wolf of Wall Street, so you might have seen it in passing, but now you know its secret origins.

2015-06-19

While you should never be ashamed of your nerdiness, there are a few
behaviors that have unfortunately become nerd stereotypes that nobody
(nerd or non-nerd) should engage in. Here are a few tips on being a better nerd, a better human, and helping the rest of the world view nerds in a positive light.

2015-05-30

But a lot of people do like swords, so this question's worth entertaining.

There are a few things specific to nerd-dom that imbue swords with a
certain mystique:

power, history, fantasy, and legend.

Obviously, a sword symbolizes power (something appealing to anyone)
especially the nerd who may have had multiple encounters with bullies
who were bigger and stronger and more adept at using fists. But
swords are far more than simple revenge fantasy fulfillment.

The earliest swords date back to the bronze age and swords can be found in
almost every culture around the globe. A sword is a weapon, yes, but
it also speaks volumes about the time and culture of its origin. A
claymore boasts of a hard land where sheer force of will carved life
out of the highlands, while a katana speaks of discipline and duty
over emotion and self-interest.

A sword represents potential. Anyone can use a sword, just pick it up
and swing, which makes swords universally appealing...and useful.
But, mastering the full abilities of that same weapon involves years
of training. A sword, like life, demands focus.

Generally speaking, swords are objects of legend, born between hell
and hammer. A sword is more than a length of metal. It must be sharp
enough to slice silk yet flexible enough not to shatter against
steel. This is the magic of the swordsmith. And any good fantasy
story--from The Odyssey to Morte de Arthur to Game of Thrones to Star
Wars--hinges on a sword.

The edge of a sword balances life and death.

If none of that convinces you, keep this in mind when you wonder why
your nerd friend has a sword hanging on the wall. When the zombies
are breaking down your front door, a sword won't run out of bullets.

2015-05-18

Wil Wheaton is in my top-ten list of living nerds. If you don't know who Wil Wheaton is, that's OK. He's a pretty cool guy who has some honest perspective on what it means to "come to terms with yourself". Sure, Wil had a starring role in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but so did Jonathan Frakes and J. F. isn't on my list of nerds at all...because he's not a nerd. Wil's nerd cred doesn't come from his acting career, but from his passions.

So, what better guy to talk about how nerds and non-nerds can find common ground?

Even better, Wil is in what he calls a mixed marriage--he's a nerd, his wife is a normal--and somehow everything still works...sometimes with a little extra explaining. I'll let Wil give you an example.

I'm sharing this video because it proves that, no matter what anyone tells you, the gap between nerd and non-nerd is pretty narrow. It's not an impediment. In fact it keeps us talking, it makes us interesting.

2015-05-11

A book nerd is fairly easy to spot: just look for the book (or several) in her
hands...and hundreds more waiting patiently for her at home. A book nerd's body might be
sitting in a subway car or on a park bench, but his soul has
traveled through the narrow paper gateway into other worlds and
times. Hard-core book nerds will wait hours in line to get their
first editions autographed by the author, not because the signature increases resale value, but because the writer's
ink on the paper imbues the book with peculiar power...the woman who wrote these words spilled this ink on my book while I watched. The book nerd's ability to escape into an alternate universe
can make her seem unreachable at times, but if you join her in that
world you'll find that she's happy to take you on a guided tour and
show you every secret it holds.

2015-05-06

Here's a question I see a lot, both from girls, boys, women and men. In some form or another it boils down to, “how much do looks matter?”

I'd love to tell you that looks don't matter, but that would be a lie, and I'm not going to lie to you. They matter. Everyone knows this is true, and anyone telling you otherwise is trying to sell you something.

(Unless the person is visually impaired, in which case you can skip down to the hygiene section.)

Looks matter to everyone, even you.

That's right. I said it, and I can hear the plaintive, “but looks don't matter to me at all!” Just stop. You're not fooling anyone.

2015-04-28

This is the nerd who single-handedly mops the bar floor
with competitors...on trivia night. A brainiac knows intimate (some might say
useless) details about anything you can think of, can tell you on
what day March 15th will fall in 2179, and knows how to convert a broken microwave into a death
ray.

Remember that last part when you decide who gets into your bunker during the zombie apocalypse.

Braniacs may be fascinating, intimidating, or completely boring
depending on what they're talking about at the time, but they are
usually happy conversing about any topic you care to throw at them.

Often brainiacs struggle with distraction--when you find everything interesting, it's difficult to focus--and can have trouble with certain social skills such as understanding why other people might
not want to discuss a topic like how fly larvae can
be used to calculate time-of-death. There plenty of brainiacs who do well in a group of strangers, but
their concentrated efforts on developing their vast catalog of knowledge can sometimes lead to a
deficiency in social graces. It's fine to let someone know if the conversation starts making you uncomfortable, but if you're too polite to tell someone the topic is boring, it's usually simple to introduce a new subject by asking a brainiac what he knows about it.

2015-04-24

Don't blink is a fairly straightforward nerdism that comes
from Doctor Who. It refers to weeping angels, creatures that look
like the statues you find in cemeteries except these statues can
ruin your very existence. Imagine stone vampires with sharp fangs and
sharp fingernails and sharp...everything, and they hunt in packs. And pretty much any statue could be a weeping angel. (Remember that next
time you make fun of a garden gnome.) Fortunately weeping angels
can't move when someone's looking at them. The only way to keep them
at bay?

Don't blink.

Usually when someone utters, “don't blink,” she's referring to
something scary that you need to keep your eyes on--a pot of risotto,
a red dragon, a particularly antagonistic classmate.

However, there's a universal subtext to don't blink.

As Ferris Bueller put it, “life moves pretty fast,” so if you
blink you might miss something. Gamers, programmers, book lovers,
movie lovers, people lovers, fire fighters and race car drivers all
battle eyestrain at some point because every one of us has something
that sucks us in so deep that we don't want to close our eyes to it. Not even for a second.

So next time you're up to your eyeballs in something you love,
remember the good Doctor's advice.

2015-04-15

An anonymous Quora user posted this conundrum that is a pretty common situation, so it's worth adding to the manual.

I am a 15-year-old nerd with an interest in computers and stuff. I lack social skills. What are some ways to build them?My interests also include economics, and I'm almost engaged to computer and non-fiction books.

A previous article about Flexing Your Social Muscle will offer some advice on building your social skills, so take a look at it, but here are a few things that will be more specifically helpful in your situation:

2015-04-08

Considering that the global population is over 7 billion, even if you said, "a nerd rapper must be one in a million!" that would be a lot of nerd rappers. I think, statistically speaking, there should be more out there. In any case, the genre exists, and it's called nerdcore.

2015-04-05

Otaku is a Japanese word meaning a person (or people) with an obsessive personality, particularly toward manga and anime.

In western countries otaku has become the word of choice for nerds with a penchant for Japanese culture, and this is largely a self-selected term in Europe and the United States, considering that most westerners have no idea what otaku means. While otaku in Japan tend
to be almost exclusively male, the typical western otaku is equally likely to be male or female.

If you're around otaku, prepare yourself for an onslaught of cartoons, comic books and endless collectible card games filled with huge-eyed characters whose hair defies gravity. Otaku can
be intimidating for someone unfamiliar with Japanese culture,
particularly their high-energy lifestyles and casual use of Japanese phrases
in everyday conversation. Don't worry, just immerse yourself in the culture and go with the flow, you'll have fun and might learn a few things about Japan along the way.

2015-03-28

Here's a phrase that was considered cliché
when William Lamb used it way back in 1817.

So why is it so popular with nerds in the 21st century?

To start off, in 1962 Stan Lee (that dude to the right) used a variation of this phrase in the very first Spiderman comic book. You see, Spiderman didn't start off as a hero. When he discovered that he had super powers, Peter Parker wanted to use them to make money. He actually had the chance to stop a burglar, but chose not to because it wasn't his job. Later, that same robber killed Peter's uncle Ben, who was Peter's surrogate father. Talk about learning your moral lessons the hard way. Stan Lee adds the narrative note, "with great power there must also come--great responsibility," burning the words into nerd consciousness.

Over the years, the phrase has been tightened up, but the idea remains the same.

Of course, like any good cliché
it's also true. It's been used by political leaders for centuries to give careful consideration before handing the reins of power to a single entity who could cause significant problems with their new found strength. This idea resonates with nerds who often discovered themselves at the mercy of people who were bigger, better coordinated, or more popular.

Generally speaking, it's not a bad mantra. Consider it the next time you hold someone's fate in your hands, whether it's approving a developing nation's trade agreement or letting that guy change into your lane on the highway.

2015-03-15

Most nerds love movies of all kinds, and while there are a few genres that appeal to them more than others, many nerds will happily sit through a chick-flick or bromance just because they like watching movies. However, certain types of movies are more appealing to nerds, and you might wonder why.

2015-03-10

"According to advice, I'm supposed to at least be interesting, a good
listener, or adventurous or something. Seems like a tall order."
(The original question also mentioned "I'm average looking", but I don't that's particularly relevant since by definition average puts you on the same level as most people, so you're not at a disadvantage in the looks department.)

This isn't actually a particularly tall order, but dating does take a little bit of effort, even for people who are socially skilled.

2015-03-04

You're
not likely to find a tech nerd shopping for a PC in Best Buy, although
he might be there to make fun of the Geek Squad. Tech nerds buy their
high-end gear online or get it free in exchange for reviews on their
blogs. Or they build it
themselves. Some tech
nerds naturally gravitate toward computer hacking, which doesn't mean
they are criminals, it simply means they know their way around
computer networks the way some people know their way around the mall.
Your tech nerd is the go-to guy for help when your computer gets
stuck rebooting itself, she can perform miracles on your grandmother's
wireless connection, and can build a custom PC chassis themed around
your favorite TV show. Tech nerds hold our future in their hands, but
they often get lost in their projects and may have to be reminded to
take a break and go outside and play once in a while.

2015-03-03

The Carnegie Mellon Museum has a marvelous documentary series called The Invisible Photograph, parts of which are ostensibly geared toward photographers and archivists--who many people would consider highly qualified nerds in their own right--and when thearchival nerds in front of the camera run into problems they can't solve they tap into their own nerd networks and call in reinforcements. Teams of nerds from different fields converge on outdated computer equipment, decaying floppy disks, and decades-old analogue tape recorders to rescue data from time's gaping maw.

This article isn't really part of the Nerd Manual's "how to" aesthetic, but it gives you a taste of how real-life nerds leverage their passions into careers and how sometimes the only thing keeping our collective long-term memory from succumbing to entropy is a nerd with a home-made hardware emulator. Everyone should be glad that there are people out there who are passionate about weird things.

2015-02-24

If you ascribe to the Myers-Briggs personality type indicators, a psychological assessment tool in use since the 1940s (and re-purposed by nerds to classify their favorite fictional characters), a nerd isn't just some strange creature from an alternate universe (although he might want to be), there is actually a psychological imperative behind nerdy behavior.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) classifies basic personality across 16 different types based on variations in four specific characteristics—extroversion/introversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving. Nerds tend to select the INTP, ENTP, INTJ and ISTJ personality types (although they can certainly fall into other types).

*NOTE: some people believe that the MBTI is a valuable assessment tool, while others think it's poppycock. Often times bias against the MBTI is based upon the distortion of personality types in popular culture memes, and may be justified. If you know a nerd who scoffs at an MBTI reference, that's his choice, so keep this segment to yourself.

2015-02-21

If
it has dice, cards or a board with tokens, a gamer nerd has probably played
it. Gamers are highly competitive, so don't be surprised if the gamer nerd you know
races you to every door, and makes bets out of any situation that
involves even the tiniest element of chance. Further specializations of gamers include
RPG nerds who can sometimes script month-long tabletop games full of as much drama as any
episode of Real Housewives, and LARPers who craft medieval
costumes
and foam swords, and do battle in public parks. Of course, most people are familiar with video gamers who have
a stable of online characters who make Rambo look like a hippie.

2015-02-17

If you do a Google image search for “nerd” the majority of hits
will feature someone wearing glasses, but if you take a look at any
large group of nerds you'll notice that, while a lot of them wear
glasses, most of them don't (and even fewer if you're at a cosplay
convention). On the other hand, if you looked into the eyes of nerds
not wearing glasses, you would find that many of them wear contacts.
So what gives? Are nerdy glasses a myth?

2015-02-14

FPS is an initialism for first person shooter, the type of video game where the point of view, what you see on the screen, is through the main character's eyes, or sometimes a point of view very near the character's head. Of course, the main action of these games is shooting, hence the name. When FPS games were first introduced, gaming graphics left a lot to be desired, but the first person perspective immersed the player into the game world, giving FPS games an advantage over side scrollers that kept players at a distance from the main character.

People don't typically use the term FPS in daily conversation, so if you hear the term used liberally, it's a safe bet you're in the presence of video gamers.

2015-02-10

The guy who actually likes opera, knows why a Bordeaux can only come from a particular area of the planet, and can tell you the stylistic differences between paintings from different parts of Picasso's career: this is a culture nerd. The focus is on high culture, but can encompass any time period and anything from Brahms to bowling. Culture nerds can be
snobs, although they aren't always, and their interest in art,
theater and classical music isn't remotely pretentious. They don't care what
people think of their preference for Bach over rock because they're
thinking about the common themes running through Diego Rivera's
murals and 1950s Hindi cinema. Cultural nerds prefer quiet art
galleries, live theater and orchestral music, but they may also enjoy
popular films that comment on society, music that mashes up genres as
a social experiment, and lively political debate.

2015-02-05

So you've met this really interesting person--smart and a bit shy--but after a couple of conversations you notice a few quirks: she loves science fiction, he's into gaming, she watches a lot of Doctor Who, he collects comic books...

Oh, wait, you've met a nerd.

Congratulations!

OK, so you already knew you were talking to a nerd or else you wouldn't be reading this. Here are some ideas to help you develop a better relationship with your new friend.

2015-01-27

One of the most deceptively simple quotes in popular culture comes from a 900 year old little green guy living on a swamp planet.

In Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda (the little green guy) tells Luke (the hero of the story) to levitate his space ship out of the swamp using the force (a somewhat mystic power that can be harnessed to move large objects without actually touching them). Luke, smirking, says, “I'll give it a try.”

Here's the genius of this scene. Everyone watching knows exactly what Luke feels like at that moment, we've all been in the situation where a parent or teacher or manager tells us we can do something great with our lives if we try, and we just nod and go, “sure, I'll give it a try,” but we're actually thinking, “there's no way I can do that.”

But Yoda, wise old Jedi that he is, cuts through Luke's bullshit:

Try not.
Do...
or do not.
There is no try.

You could spend a lot of time unraveling all the ramifications of that statement, but the genius of it is how it simplifies everything--either do it, or don't. Yoda makes no judgment, he doesn't pander to Luke's self esteem, and he makes no excuses. It comes down to knowing what you can do and doing it.

2015-01-25

This article is intended for nerds who have trouble dealing with social situations--maybe you get along fine with your close friends but strangers baffle you, perhaps you want to interact with people but don't know where to start, or maybe you simply don't like interacting with anyone. Even if you're not shy or socially inept, maybe you know someone who is and could use your help.

As mentioned in an earlier article, nerds often have the gift of being able to detach from emotion and look at situations logically. Cool detachment can be great if you're coding, balancing an equation or
assaulting an AI's fortress, but it leads to problems when we're faced with situations that don't follow rational rules. The nerd
brain that's tuned to purely logical tasks tends to be less able to
deal with emotional nuances. (I'm not including physiological origins of social difficulties such as Asperger's, although the outcome can be similar.) A few articles out there suggest that the brain allocates mental resources from the social area to the logical, but I think they're just being polite. I've known many nerds who have great intellectual as well as interpersonal skills, which suggests that some nerds deliberately focus on
their logical interests while neglecting the social skills necessary to
maintain relationships. This may sound lonely or even sad to some people, but I've also known nerds who would argue that social interaction = social distraction, and they aren't in the least bit lonely.

2015-01-22

Nothing will earn you a nerd label faster than loving activities based on logic and rational, systematic thinking. Doesn't matter whether it's your profession (mathematics, coding, network administration) or a leisure activity (chess, computer gaming, hacking) if you like rules, structure and predictability, you must be a nerd.

I suppose that's OK, considering that nerds are also known for their astounding brain power and impeccable taste in movies and books, but the problem is that logic carries connotations of emotional detachment and mechanical disregard for people's feelings. The detachment part is true to an extent, but logic doesn't always exclude emotion. There are times when numbers carry more weight than feelings, but generally speaking emotion still plays a huge role in logical thought. In fact, it's impossible to logically assess human behavior without including people's feelings, for example any marketing manager includes human emotions into the equation when designing new products and advertising campaigns, and these days advertising is almost a branch of science.

2015-01-21

Who
doesn't like movies? The popularity of films across all sections of people means that you won't
usually uncover a movie nerds until you spend more than half an hour
talking with them. You might notice a liberal sprinkling of movie
quotes in the conversation, a sparkle in the eyes when you ask what
was going on with the train in that one Wes Anderson flick, and
oblique references to parallels between Groundhog Day
and the human condition. Movie nerds are easy to get along with
because their passion is something most people can understand,
although you might get tired of incessant connections between
everyday life and screen scenes. Movie nerds are great though because
they'll go see anything with you, and they can open up your eyes to
all the things hidden in your favorite movies, making them brand new
again.

2015-01-18

Answering this question is a little unfair. I mean, who doesn't like Batman? Sure, there are nerds who prefer Superman, Captain America or some other hero, and there are non-nerds who only know Batman from movies, but even the most contentious nerds and completely hero-oblivious people have to admit that Batman is cool.

So the short answer is, nerds like Batman because everyone likes Batman.

OK, but why does everyone like The Bat? It's not like he's a loveable character--his alter ego isn't a jovial scamp with a shaggy dog sidekick, and everything from his costume to his car is designed to strike fear in the hearts of criminals.

2015-01-13

Any time a nerd has to give a rapid answer to something unknown, the likely response will be:

This isn't because of some cosmic significance (although nerds will argue about this point), but because of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, in which a group of hyper-intelligent beings want the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. They build a supercomputer that takes 7½ million years to compute the answer, which turns out to be...

2015-01-07

Here's an observation:nerds deal with information differently than the average
person.

Think about the number of messages vying for our attention
each day: 24 hour news, music in all its formats,reality TV,
everything you deal with at work, everything you deal with from your
family and friends, and of course the relentless deluge of
advertising in all its forms."How Much Media", a study by the Institute for Communication Technology Management at U. of Southern California, suggests 74 gigabytes of information per person daily in 2015, not including information for work.

Most people pay selective attention to all this data: for example you tune out most of
the irrelevant information and only allow the important stuff to
enter your brain so you can stay on task and finish your job.
Sometimes this doesn't work, and you find yourself distracted by a
song on the radio, a friend's
personal problem, a juicy tidbit of gossip...you get the idea. It's
enjoyable to give your brain a break from one task, and studies show
that it's actually productive to let your mind cavort around
something frivolous for a few minutes before putting it back to work.

On a day-to-day basis, people operate somewhere in a happy middle ground between fun and focus, but you
will often find nerds at one extreme or the other, and here's why.

2015-01-01

One of the earliest nerdisms, the phrase, "live long and prosper," originated from the first Star Trek television series in 1967 and is usually accompanied by a hand gesture--hand raised with the palm forward, fingers parted between the middle and ring finger, thumb extended.

Don't worry, it's not a gang sign, simply a benign gesture of greeting or farewell. The hand gesture was actually inspired by a Jewish blessing. The usual response is to raise your hand in the same manner and say, "peace and long life."

If you really want to impress (or blow the mind of) the person who bestows this greeting upon you, answer, "dif-tor heh smusma" (which is the same phrase in Vulcan.)

Nerds commonly use this greeting as a way of showing their common interests to other nerds--much like some men high-five and shout, "dude!" or some women air kiss and say, "darling." While the Vulcan salute may seem like an affectation, it actually resonates with a core nerd value, considering that its roots lie with a race that eschews emotion for the pursuit of pure logic, and the greeting allows nerds to subtly proclaim independence from everyday society in a way that indicates respect and well-wishes toward the recipient.

Phil South - Sword Girl Not all nerds like swords. But a lot of people do like swords, so this question's worth entertaining. ...

Notes

Is there a "Geek Manual"?Valid question, seeing as how there is a difference in the connotation of nerd versus geek. However, in the common parlance, nerd and geek are terms used interchangeably to classify people who have also been identified as brainiacs, dorks, dweebs, eggheads and spazzes. If you are unable to accept “nerd” as a catchall term for this social group, it is highly likely you are a nerd or a geek, but keep in mind that no one is forcing you to read this guide. (If someone is forcing you to read this guide, use this major flaw as an argument not to make you read it.)

A note on genderGiven that the majority of nerds are male, this manual will often refer to nerds with the male pronoun. This is not meant to marginalize female nerds, nor is it a statement about feminism, chauvinism, or any other -ism. It is simply a way to keep things simple.